Tom Bradshaw was a YMCA legend.
Over the holidays, Tom passed away at the age of 87. While many across our region know him as a former Raleigh City Councilman, Mayor of Raleigh, North Carolina Secretary of Transportation and education advocate, those of us at the YMCA knew him as something equally important: a lifelong volunteer who believed deeply in showing up for others.
Since the 1970s, Tom served the YMCA of the Triangle in nearly every way imaginable. He was a member of the Y Board, chaired the Annual Campaign, led multiple capital campaigns and served as Chair of the Board of Trustees. Although he worked in investments by trade, Tom always made room to serve his community through volunteerism.
Tom often credited the YMCA with opening doors for him early in life, including providing him with his first pair of tennis shoes in the 1940s. He grew up in a public housing neighborhood nine blocks from the YMCA. Invited through our doors at age seven, he found a place that felt like a second home, and he remained connected to the Y for the rest of his life.
That early experience shaped everything that followed. Tom believed deeply in “doing the right thing for all the young people in the region,” and he lived that belief through decades of service, leadership and advocacy. When he received the YMCA of the Triangle’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2018, it wasn’t a capstone; it reflected a commitment that had already spanned generations.
Today, more than 2,500 middle and high school students participate in YMCA teen leadership programs across our region, including the Lightner Y Achievers program that Tom helped create. These programs build leadership skills, entrepreneurship and resilience, the same qualities he embodied throughout his life.
The lesson Tom leaves us is both simple and profound: we will never fully know how today’s work — a welcoming space, a trusted mentor, a pair of tennis shoes — might shape a life or transform our community years down the road.
My hope is that everyone who walks through our doors today feels the same sense of belonging and possibility that Tom felt decades ago.
